The 2026 Children’s World’s Fair isn’t going to happen, according to organizers
The three city cultural organizations planning the events said they couldn't secure the necessary funding.
It looks like there won’t be a 2026 Children’s World’s Fair in Philadelphia after all.
Officials with the three institutions that had been hoping to host the event as part of the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations said in a statement that there wasn’t enough money or time to make the World’s Fair.
“Unfortunately, after more than a year of collaboration and creative energy, Please Touch Museum, the Mann Center for Performing Arts, and the Philadelphia Zoo have made the difficult yet necessary decision to discontinue our efforts to debut a Children’s World’s Fair (CWF) in the Centennial District in 2026,” said the statement by Please Touch Museum interim president Melissa Weiler Gerber and chief growth and strategy officer Tracy Curvan, Mann Center president and CEO Catherine Cahill and Philadelphia Zoo president and CEO Jo-Elle Mogerman.
“No doubt, there was great enthusiasm from both public and private partners in this exciting, first-of-its-kind concept, especially given the potential for CWF to inspire children to become changemakers of the future,” the statement continued, “while positioning the City as a champion and convenor of children who want to build their world.”
But, it stated, “the highly competitive and challenging funding landscape surrounding 2026 and the remaining time available to execute on our original vision simply made moving forward impossible.”
The planners had estimated that the Children’s World’s Fair would attract about 1 million visitors. When they first announced the idea last April, they said they believed the total cost of the fair would be between $7 million to $10 million. It would have been another major event Philadelphia was hosting in 2026, along with the Semiquincentennial, the FIFA World Cup, and the MLB All-Star Game.
Just last week, City Council approved $45 million in funding to help pay for the city’s 250th anniversary commemorations.
At the time, Michael Newmuis, the city’s 2026 director, said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker will be proposing additional funding for 2026 celebrations in her annual budget, which will be presented to City Council next month.
Gov. Josh Shapiro recently proposed nearly $65 million in funding for Pennsylvania’s Semiquincentennial celebration. Much of that money would go toward Philadelphia big-money 2026 events, including the FIFA World Cup matches, the MLB All-Star Game, and a major Fourth of July concert.